Methodology

Bretton Woods, Past and Present: 2. Progress in Economics

Ok, time to deal with the elephant in the room: when is one theory better than the other? What is progress in economics?

Is it not repeating the mistakes of the 1930s? Is it a more refined equilibrium concept? Lower p-values and higher t-statistics? More predictive power? Or is progress in economics simply an intuitive hunch that the present theory is better than the previous one?

If economics were a game of a few high-minded professors, the matter would have little meaning for the rest of us. But economics does profoundly influence every corner of our lives. Thus, if there’s anything students should learn in their proverbial Economics 101, it is what defines progress in economics. Read more

Posted by Floris Heukelom at 6:53 pm

Warren J. Samuels (1933-2011)

On this blog, we like to overstate quite a bit our irreverence towards the establishment and in particular our senior colleagues. Several posts have been written in which we have challenged the prevaling views and methodologies in HET and criticized the way young scholars are sometimes treated with some condescension by more established peers. Yet there is no denying that we are also the products of this establishment that we sometimes take to task. One instance of this relation is that most of the contributors of this blog - if not all of them - have received the Warren J. and Sylvia J. Samuels Young Scholars Award, which allowed us to participate in the HES meeting without having to pay for it - at a time where most of us were graduate or post-graduate students with only meagre stipends. Therefore, it is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of Warren J. Samuels on August 17. Read more

Posted by Yann Giraud at 5:31 pm

Sheila Dow - Why Economists Think How They Think

Economists argue over how the economy works or what is the best fiscal policy to recover from the current crisis. Sheila Dow looks behind the curtain of these debates; she seeks to find out why particular theories are being advanced, and how economists evaluate the merit of an argument in scientific debate. Click here to watch the video Read more

Posted by The Institute for... at 9:02 am

Sheila Dow - Why Economists Think How They Think

Economists argue over how the economy works or what is the best fiscal policy to recover from the current crisis. Sheila Dow looks behind the curtain of these debates; she seeks to find out why particular theories are being advanced, and how economists evaluate the merit of an argument in scientific debate. Read more

image: 
In this video: 
Sheila Dow
Bruce Caldwell

Bruce Caldwell - Why Economics Needs the History of Thought

About the Interview

Who is going to teach fields like economic methodology and the history of economic thought if these fields aren't taught to current graduate students? Bruce Caldwell is filling this hole in the graduate curriculum. The Hayek scholar is ramping-up the Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke University to educate a generation of future professors – a generation that is well-versed in the history of economic thought, and that communicates with other social sciences and the humanities. These are the seeds of new economic thinking. Read more

image: 
In this video: 
Bruce Caldwell

Where the World Economy is Heading - David Hale

In INET's interview with David Hale, he discusses possible economic scenarios of the future that could inspire new thinking.

In this video: 
David Hale

Neuroeconomics: Fusing Psychology with Economics - David Hale

In part 4 of INET's interview with David Hale, he says that although we are all generally convinced that we are right (even when we are wrong,) the crisis has lead to new thinking and new strategies

In this video: 
David Hale

A Constructive Critique of Economic Modeling

Project Leader: 
Peter Spiegler

The mathematical methodology of economics has proven to be a powerful tool for understanding certain aspects of the economy, but has also proven to be susceptible to unanticipated and substantial failures - e.g. the failure to predict and adequately understand the recent financial crisis. Read more

Book on Turbulent Dynamics and Hidden Patterns

Project Leader: 
Anwar Shaikh

The book's aim is to demonstrate that a revived form of the "magnificent dynamics" of the classical economists can explain the actual patterns of developed economies involving relative industrial prices, stock prices and interest rates, exchange rates, growth, cycles and inflation. Read more